Grip-car for cable railways



FRANK P. H. LOFTIS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

GRIP-CAR FOR CABLE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 323,817, dated August 4, 1885.

Application filed January 16, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK P. H. Lorrrs, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Grip-Oars for Cable Railways; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of cars used by the cable railways known as grip-cars or dummies, and to certain new and useful improvements therein relating to a gripreleasing mechanism adapted to be operated independently by a lug or projection in the road-bed, and by the safety-guard patentedby me May 27, 1884, No. 299,234, and also a brakeoperating mechanism adapted to be operated either by hand or by the safety-guard above referred to.

My invention consists in the devices hereinafter described and' claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my gripcar. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the same.

I have herein illustrated and will describe so much of my safety-guard as is necessary to the understanding and operation of my present improvements.

A is a frame, and B are the wheels, of a dummy or grip-car. In the portion of the frame in front of the forward wheels are fixed hangers C, to which are pivoted the rollerguides D.

E is the guard-plate or trigger, having rearwardly-extending arms 6, which pass between the roller-guides D, whereby the trigger is held above the track or road-bed. The rear roller-guides are higher than the forward ones, so that the arms of the trigger jslope downward to the front for the purpose of allowing the trigger or guard-plate to move forward by gravity to its proper position.

F is the shield, consisting of a cross-frame with curved ends projecting to each side of the longitudinal vertical plane of the wheels. The shield is adapted to have avertical movement by reason of being guided upon hangers G, secured under the frame. From the shield extends upwardly a short arm, H, having'a hole or slot, h, in its upper end.

Between the arms 6 of the guard or trigger E is a cross-piece, I, from which a pin, i, projects forwardly, and is adapted to enter the hole in the arm H, and thus hold the shield up as long as the guard E is at its forward limit; but when the guard is moved back its pin 2' withdraws from the arm H and the shield drops down to the road-bed. Thereforewhen an obstructing body is met, the trigger or guard E being forced back, the shield is tripped and drops down,preventing the body from getting nnder the wheels. Now, it is obvious that in connection with this object something more is required to insure the safety of the body encountered. The car should stop immediately.

In my patent above referred to I show a mechanism, dependent upon the safety-guard for its operation,by which the cable is released and the brakes applied; and my present improvements, while effecting the same results, are somewhat changed in construction to enable further results to be accomplished, as I shall explain.

Q is the grip-lever,having a pawl, q, engag ing with a curved rack, P. I have not shown the grip, as that is no portion of my invention. It is sufficient to say that by the operation of lever Q, thegrip is made to seize or release the traveling cable.

It is acurved arm extending beside the rack, and adapted to'be'ar under a small roller-stud, q, on the pawl. This arm is somewhat similar to the arm R in my previous patent; but in that patent it is shown as being rigidly connected to a lever having an arm connected by a rod with the shield,and therefore influenced directly by the dropping of the shield; butin the present case I carry the forward portion of the arm R down through the frame, pivot it to a bracket, 0', on the grip-frame at the point 1", and thence extend it forward a short distance in an approximately horizontal position. Its end is provided with a short stud or lug, T at right angles.

Pivotcd by its rear end to the same bracket, 1, is the lever J, which passes directly above the stud 1' and is provided near its forward end with a weight, If.

Extending upward from the shield is a standard, j, which bears under and supports the weighted lever J, holding its rear end above stud i when the shield is hung up by ICO the trigger; but when the shield is dropped, this support being removed,the weighted lever drops sufficient to bear down on stud 'r whereby that portion of the arm Rbehind the pivotpoint r is thrown up, thus releasing the pawl q, and the lever Q being released the grip relieves the cable; but to make this perfectly certain it will be observed that, by reason of the shape of arm R and its contact with the roller-stud of the pawl, the continued movement of said arm after it has raised the pawl forces the pawl and lever forward,wherebythe grip is made to release the cable without being dependent upon the strain of the cable alone; but this release, only upon the occasion described, is not sufficient in all cases, for the cable must be let go at other times and placesas, for example, when approaching a higher cross-cable or on a curve, where gravitation alone is used to carry the car around. To do this I place in the road-bed upon the slot-iron Z, at proper places, a lug, z.

Pivoted to the grip-frame just under the ear is a lever, Y, the lower end of which is rounded off, and is adapted to come in contact with the ing .2, whereby it is forced backward. The upper end of the lever is curved to form a cam, which is adapted to bear under the rear end of the curved arm R. lVhen the lower end of the lever Y is forced back, its upper end is thrown forward under the arm R and lifts it up, whereby the pawl q is immediately raised, and then both lever and pawl are forced forward to relieve the cable from the grip, as described. It will be observed that by thus making the arm R independent of the safety-guard in front it can be operated by the lever Y, as described, without interfering with the guard mechanism at all, and at the same time it is adapted to be properly operated by said mechanism when the occasion arises. As arranged in my former patcut this could not be done, as the arm R was directly and wholly dependent for its operation upon the safety-guard.

It is not essential that the engagement of the arm R be directly with the pawl q. The roller-stud q may be placed higher up upon the pawl-stem, and the arm R carried up under it with the same result of lifting the pawl and positively forcing the lever.

In my former patent the brakes were held inactive by a lever having a pawl engaging a rack, and were operated, when the pawl was disengaged by the action of the droppingshield, by a weighted arm connected directly with the lever. Consequently whenever the brakes would have to be operated on any ordinary occasion the weighted arm would prove an unnecessary addition and would render the mechanism impractical.

By my present arrangement I provide for the simple operation of the brakes by hand, and also for their operation automatically upon the drop of the shield, each result being obtained independently.

The brakes L are the usual vertically-moving ones adapted to bear down upon the rails. They move in slotted guides Z. Across the bottom of the car is mounted a rock-shaft, '1, having end cranks, I, connected by linksn with the stems of the brakes L.

M is an elbow-lever secured rigidly at its angle upon the shaft T. Its upper and longer arm has a pawl, 0, which engages a rack, 1?. Its lower and shorter arm extends backwardl y and is provided with a stud, o.

Pivoted at its forward end on the shaft T, just beside the elbow-lever, is an arm, m, which extends rearwardly over the stud 0 of said lever and carries a weight, NV. This arm is guided by a slotted piece, 20, under the car.

Pivoted horizontally and transversely under the ear is a strip, U, which forms a catch or latch for supporting the rear end of the weighted arm m. To the end of this latch is secured a slide-rod, a,which extends horizontally under the car, and terminates just behind the trigger or guard-plate E when this latter is at its forward position. A spring, S, holds the latch forward, in which position it is under and supports the rear end of the arm m, the forward end of which is then held above the stud o of the brake-lever. By operating brake-lever M the brakes may be applied by hand, and raised when desirable without interfering with the safety-guard; but when the trigger E is forced back it comes in contact with the slide'rod a, forcing it back, which in turn swings the latch U back, thus releasing the weighted arm m. This, in falling to the limit of its guide w, bears down on the stud 0, whereby the upper arm of lever M is thrown back, which, through the rock-shaft T, forces down and applies the brakes. \Vhen ready to start again, the lever M is moved forward to raise the brakes, and the weighted arm is lifted to its latch.

I do not claim in this application the mech anism illustrated and described for operating the brakes by a tripping device affected by the safety-guard; neither do I claim the mechanism operated by the safety-guard to raise the pivoted-arm and release the cable, but reserve to myself the right to make separate applications for these features.

I am aware that it is not new to throw the grip-lever pawl out of engagement with its rack by means of devices on the car coming in contact with lugs, or projections in the road-bed and on the slot-irons, but in such mechanisms which have been known or used the result is accomplished by various intermediate levers and connecting-rods, involving greater and more complicated mechanism than that which I employ; nor do any of the known devices act not only to raise the pawl, but also to force the lever, making its action certain, instead of relying wholly on the strain of the cable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a gripcar for cable railways, the gripthe road-bed, substantially as and for the pur- 1o lever Q, having the rack-engaging pawl q, in pose herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FRANK P. H. LOFTIS.

Witnesses:

G. D. COLE, J. H. BLooD. 

